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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28788756">you've got it all backwards</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dererin/pseuds/dererin'>dererin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Getting Together, M/M, Misunderstanding, Texting, awkward teenagers, kageyama is staring but it looks like he's glaring</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:08:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,569</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28788756</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dererin/pseuds/dererin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“hey,” kageyama said, puffing out frosty air. </p><p>“oh, um, hi,” hinata scrambled for words. neither of them spoke for a moment. </p><p>“you just gonna stand there?” kageyama asked after a few seconds. </p><p>what? well what did he expect hinata to do exactly? “what do you mean just stand there?“ </p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>you've got it all backwards</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>what i think: variety of different ships/fandoms/aus </p><p>what comes out: TEENAGE KAGEHINA GETTING TOGETHER (AWKWARD)</p><p>also fic title is from high and dry by mxmtoon !</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>hinata had paused to gulp down some water in an attempt to cool himself down after running laps around the school. it was a cold thursday afternoon, but his body naturally ran hot. kageyama liked to say it was another perk (?) of his freakish athletic skills. hinata didn’t dwell on this too much, deciding to take it as a compliment. he was just thinking about what a weirdo kageyama was—a thought that occupied his mind about 100% more often than it had any right to, really—when he felt a shiver run down his spine. hinata’s head shot up quickly, but by the time his focus zeroed in on kageyama, the other boy was innocently tying his shoelace, facing away from him. <em>weird, </em>thought hinata, <em>i could have sworn he was looking at me all hatefully. </em>hinata didn’t know whether he should feel happy that kageyama was making an active effort to avoid conflict for once, or whether he should be pissed that kageyama was secretly yelling at him inside his head. but this thought made his head hurt, so hinata decided to just shrug it off and start stretching.</p><p> </p><p>or rather, he would have <em>liked </em>to just shrug it off, except that kageyama kept glaring at him all throughout practice that day. hinata hated to admit it, but it was messing with his confidence, damn it. it was even affecting his playing, but when he tried to glare back with his best <em>you wanna fight? </em>face, kageyama instantly averted his eyes and refused to talk to him. it was weird, hinata’s brain processed through a tired haze, by the time he’d gotten through the rest of practice alive. but then, to be fair, kageyama was just that kind of person. a genius on the court, but off the court? extremely weird. extreme weirdo. incomprehensible creep. yup. that was all this was.</p><p> </p><p>the next day, hinata cycled to school with a renewed vigour, hoping to not have to relive the nightmare that was kageyama’s constant glaring. he should’ve expected to remain unlucky. honestly, hinata wished he could just ignore it. but kageyama’s glares still gave him nightmares sometimes—like the time he served a ball directly onto kageyama’s head. that had probably been one of the most terrifying moments of his volleyball career thus far. point is, it wasn’t just a thing that he could ignore. kageyama’s glare meant at least two things: firstly, kageyama was mad at him, and secondly, the reason had something to do with hinata’s volleyball skills. god knew that kageyama never missed the chance to critique hinata where his technique was lacking, or force him to practice his receives or his form rather than their quick. it was kind of a drag sometimes, but it was also like having his own personal trainer. (suffice to say that hinata sort of appreciated it in the long run.) and yes, okay, maybe he was slightly off his game today, but maybe if kageyama actually tried to <em>help </em>him rather than glaring holes into the back of his head! yeah, maybe that was another option!! whatever. he huffed silently to himself. it was giving him a headache just thinking about this. stupid kageyama. who cared if he didn’t like hinata’s receives anyway?</p><p> </p><p>“hinata…what are you doing?”</p><p> </p><p>remembering that he wasn’t the only one in the club room, he quickly pulled his clean shirt over his head and stared at sugawara. “um, nothing!”</p><p> </p><p>“it’s just…” suga-san shifted uncomfortably, as if debating what to say. his gaze slid over to kageyama, and hinata’s eyes followed. “well, you just sounded like you were mumbling kageyama’s name over and over,” he scratched his head awkwardly, regretting having said anything.</p><p> </p><p>kageyama, meanwhile, didn’t look angry anymore. on the contrary, his face was completely red, and he sort of looked like he wanted to be swallowed up by the ground. what the hell? hinata reconsidered. maybe he <em>was </em>still angry. why else would he be making such a weird expression anyway? then he froze, aghast.</p><p> </p><p>“what did i even say?” hinata gasped. the other club members just looked at each other.</p><p> </p><p>tsukishima took a breath. “kageyama! <em>kageyama!” </em>he all but moaned in a high pitched voice, mimicking him.</p><p> </p><p>“what the hell? i do not sound like that…” he said indignantly, flushing despite himself. he was kind of relieved though. at least he hadn’t given away any of what he’d actually been thinking about. except…kageyama…</p><p> </p><p>“yes you do,” snorted tsukishima, looking like he was thoroughly entertained by both kageyama’s and hinata’s expressions.</p><p> </p><p>“ugh,” mumbled kageyama, turning away and burying his face in his sweatshirt, “so embarrassing,” he continued, too softly for anyone to hear. obviously, hinata heard it anyway, and instantly felt a spike of terror. what if kageyama got pissed at him and started to glare even more? that would be terrible…he wouldn’t be able to practice normally!</p><p> </p><p>meanwhile, tanaka clapped him on the back, mistaking hinata’s terror for more embarrassment. “don’t worry dude! you didn’t sound like that dickhead tsukishima!”</p><p> </p><p>(said dickhead snickered into his palm. all self satisfied and stuff.)</p><p> </p><p>“really?” he brightened up. maybe it hadn’t really been a big deal. maybe he would live to see another day…maybe he’d be able to concentrate tomorrow…</p><p> </p><p>“mostly, anyway,” tanaka added darkly, and then grinned, clapping hinata on the back for the second time.</p><p> </p><p>great. he had <em>no </em>objective way to know what he actually said, and so no way of gauging kageyama’s fury with him. may as well skip practice tomorrow, then! he was beginning to feel almost hysterical. what was even going on with kageyama lately? how come nobody was acting suspicious of stupid <em>kageyama? </em>whatever. his brain wasn’t made to have to think this much.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>xxx</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>once hinata got home, it was time to eat dinner and do homework. naturally, after eating three portions of food (why was he still skinny? how hard is it to build muscle exactly? maybe he should text ushijima about his workout routine…) he retired his room and flopped onto his bed in exhaustion, doing Not homework.</p><p> </p><p>hinata absolutely hated school. he didn’t even <em>want </em>to like studying, really. what he <em>wanted </em>was to go international and play for japan. seeing as he’d probably have to graduate to do that, hinata should prioritise school work a little more, but. he had better things to think about. namely, volleyball strategies. and the quiz. and…kageyama. it wasn’t like they were friends, was it? he had sort of liked to think so, but—maybe after what had started happening recently…he’d have to reconsider…</p><p> </p><p>if he was being honest, hinata was more than a little upset at the idea that kageyama might hate him, or not want to be his friend (what else would explain his dirty looks?). sure, it seemed a bit uncharacteristic of him, especially when kageyama acted like he actually cared about hinata’s wellbeing, but maybe he’d changed his mind. <em>something </em>must have happened, anyway, for him to be so mad, right?</p><p> </p><p>hinata sincerely tried his best to concentrate on his project for the rest of the evening, having left a huge chunk of work to do <em>way </em>too late in a manner typical to him, but he just couldn’t. usually, his thoughts strayed towards volleyball, and practice, and his and kageyama’s quick, and becoming an international player, but clearly that wasn’t the case today. for some reason, today, hinata just kept thinking about kageyama instead. no, don’t get him wrong, not in <em>that </em>way, not like a lovestruck schoolgirl thinks of her crush! more like, in the ‘my rival is acting weird, does he hate me???’ kind of way. and he wasn’t gonna lie, it was more stressful than he thought it to be. for one, kageyama’s creepy glare kept popping up in his head. and he kept picturing what he could possibly have done during practice to annoy kageyama to this extent. and…wondering how he could fix this, whatever it was.</p><p> </p><p>sighing and flopping onto his pillow, hinata shoved the various papers scattered across his covers off the bed, deciding that just one more day couldn’t hurt. he needed his sleep so he could wake up early and go for a jog before practice tomorrow anyway. hinata had to get up earlier than most because he also needed the extra half hour to bike to school, but, well, volleyball was worth all that. yeah, volleyball. the only thing he cared about. yeah…</p><p> </p><p>xxx</p><p> </p><p>hinata arrived at the club room extra early—the result of going to sleep at eight o’clock in the evening…—hoping to no avail that kageyama wasn’t already there. he was, of course, wrong. what <em>did </em>surprise hinata, though, was that kageyama didn’t get mad at him or scold him on sight. instead, he tossed a ball to hinata.</p><p> </p><p>“hey,” kageyama greeted him casually. painfully casual. as if the past two days hadn’t even happened.</p><p> </p><p>“hey…” hinata replied cautiously, rolling the ball between his fingertips subconsciously. they stood there for a few seconds just looking at each other.</p><p> </p><p>“uh, you wanna practice?” kageyama asked suggestively, as if this intention should have been obvious from the start. hinata glowered irritably at this thought.</p><p> </p><p>“i guess,” he sniffed, feeling suddenly bratty.</p><p> </p><p>kageyama gave him a quick glare, and hinata reconsidered. “um, yeah, let’s practice,”</p><p> </p><p>“good.”</p><p> </p><p>fifteen minutes later, hinata was frantically wondering when the rest of the club members were going to show up. the plus side was that kageyama was no longer glaring at him constantly (possibly due to the fact that they were alone together), but instead, there was an awkwardness between them. or at least, hinata felt awkward. honestly, it didn’t seem like kageyama was affected or even aware of his partner’s uncharacteristic tension. hinata rolled his eyes internally. hopefully whatever it was that was making them both act so weird around each other would go away soon. he needed quality practice, and this was ruining things.</p><p> </p><p>“what is wrong with you today?” kageyama asked suddenly, as if reading his mind.</p><p> </p><p>hinata froze awkwardly. “the hell do you mean?”</p><p> </p><p>“let’s take a quick break,” kageyama offered instead, tossing him his own water bottle and going to sit on the bench.</p><p> </p><p>“o-kay,” he murmured suspiciously, now even more weirded out than ever. kageyama didn’t do…<em>nice, </em>or whatever this was supposed to be. he probably just sensed hinata’s increasingly inefficient play like some volleyball freak, hinata assured himself, taking a gulp from kageyama’s bottle without thinking about it much. kageyama stared at the bottle, even though he had been the one to give it to him.</p><p> </p><p>then, “is something wrong?” he asked again.</p><p> </p><p>hinata bristled. “why would anything be wrong?” he asked, now possibly more irritable.</p><p> </p><p>“you seem a bit off,” kageyama supplied bluntly.</p><p> </p><p>“yeah, well, <em>you </em>seem a bit off,” hinata said maturely, scooting around the original question.</p><p> </p><p>“sorry about that,” kageyama sheepishly scratched the back of his head. hinata blinked.</p><p> </p><p><em>sheepishly scratched the back of his head? </em>kageyama was not sheepish. he just…wasn’t. what was happening?</p><p> </p><p>“if you ask me,” he began, without planning what he was even going to say, “you’re the one that’s been acting really weird these last few days! and, and what’s with the glaring? if you have a problem with me, just say it, okay! stop being…ugh, what’s the word for it? passing aggressive!”</p><p> </p><p>kageyama blinked, eyes widening slightly. “um, i—“</p><p> </p><p>“you mean <em>passive </em>aggressive, idiot,” tsukishima rolled his eyes, walking past them.</p><p> </p><p>“tsukki!! i said <em>no </em>eavesdropping!” yamaguchi whined, following him.</p><p> </p><p>“shut up, yamaguchi,” the taller boy called over his shoulder, “you were there too,”</p><p> </p><p>“yeah, but i, ugh, i didn’t burst in while—“</p><p> </p><p>“morning everyone!” sugawara beamed, trailing in after yamaguchi. daichi followed, and nishinoya all but cartwheeled into the gym. hinata blinked in shock, a little overwhelmed as he watched somehow the entirety of the karasuno volleyball club entering the gym at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>“um,” hinata started, not quite knowing what to say.</p><p> </p><p>“hey, shouyou!” nishinoya slung an arm around him and pressed their faces together conspiringly. “just so you know, we <em>did </em>all wait outside for you and kageyama to finish your weird conversation,” he grinned as if he’d just told hinata what he ate for breakfast.</p><p> </p><p>“oh…” hinata said weakly, patting noya’s arm. well. whatever, it was only mildly embarrassing. that the entire club heard them. and that tsukishima was standing outside, paying attention to hinata’s most trivial grammatical mistakes. because that was how clear the audio had been for them.</p><p> </p><p>no, whatever, it wasn’t that weird anyway. why would hinata be embarrassed anyway? they’d just been talking; bickering like they usually did, right? he lifted his head up to scan the gym and found kageyama’s eyes without even trying. they both looked away quickly. feeling a weird sensation in his stomach, hinata slowly peeked back at where he’d seen kageyama, to find the him already looking back. what? what the hell? this was, weird…hinata couldn’t read the expression on his face at all.</p><p> </p><p>xxx</p><p> </p><p>things went on as usual after that. or…did they? hinata was a bit lost in regards to this whole ‘thing’. he didn’t even know what exactly it was that made it a thing in the first place, but here he was. fine, maybe things didn’t go on as usual. well, they kind of did, but they also kind of didn’t. for one thing, hinata did all the same things in a day as he would usually. he got up, went to school, played volleyball. but for another thing, things with kageyama were kind of awkward now. they were so used to their routine that they just went along with it. when they ate lunch, the conversation was painful, even though hinata didn’t hate talking to him. one time during practice when hinata missed a spike, kageyama actually <em>apologised.</em> at this point even he could tell that something was off. he should probably talk to him about it. or…not.</p><p> </p><p>not seemed like a good idea, too.</p><p> </p><p>it was just that! hinata didn’t even know what the issue was so he couldn’t even bring it up anyway!</p><p> </p><p>he tried talking to some of his friends about it, which went about as well as expected. the first person he went to was yamaguchi, for some reason.</p><p> </p><p>“hey, can i ask you something?”</p><p> </p><p>“huh? oh yeah, of course, hinata!” yamaguchi grinned slightly and shot him a thumbs up. behind him, tsukishima stared impassively at hinata without saying a word.</p><p> </p><p>“okay, so,” he began, licking his lips nervously. tsukishima didn’t blink much, did he?</p><p> </p><p>yamaguchi raised his brows, waiting to hear the end of the sentence.</p><p> </p><p>“it’s just that i’ve got this—“ hinata’s eyes met tsukishima’s. “um, you know what, never mind…maybe another time,” he mumbled, instead scurrying after tanaka by way of exiting.</p><p> </p><p>the next person he’d tried was yachi.</p><p> </p><p>“yachi, can i ask you something? it’s kind of a weird question though,”</p><p> </p><p>“oh? okay, i guess…” yachi glanced up from her textbook, looking a bit unnerved. they were in the library because hinata hadn’t finished his geography homework.</p><p> </p><p>“do you ever just have like a sort of weird moment with somebody, but you can’t explain why it was weird because you don’t really know, and then things are kinda different between you guys? if yes, what would you do?” hinata prodded, talking fast and low.</p><p> </p><p>“h-huh? a weird moment with <em>somebody</em>? what? no! n-no, of course not…” yachi had stammered, earning a glare from the librarian. she looked back down into her book and said nothing more.</p><p> </p><p>“okay…” said hinata. secretly, he thought she’d been even shiftier than him just then. seeing as that had failed, he decided to ask nishinoya.</p><p> </p><p>“noya-senpai?”</p><p> </p><p>“shouyou! what’s up?” nishinoya grinned, practically buzzing already.</p><p> </p><p>“um,” hinata began, already feeling less and less sure about this decision, “what do i do if i had a weird sort of moment with someone and now things are different between us but i don’t even know what happened?”</p><p> </p><p>nishinoya frowned, looking stumped. then his face lit up. “i know!! just ask kageyama what’s wrong!”</p><p> </p><p>hinata stared at him in mortified silence. when nishinoya didn’t receive a reaction, he bounced off to bother someone else during their limited practise break.</p><p> </p><p>he’d tried to solve the problem, he really had. nobody could say that he didn’t do anything. but now that his friends had failed him, what was hinata supposed to do? it wasn’t like he could magically fix it himself, or actually <em>talk </em>to kageyama. that was laughable at best.</p><p> </p><p>as a last resort, he decided to text kenma. hinata knew kenma wasn’t much of a people person and probably wouldn’t be interested in this, but he gave it a shot anyway.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>hey kenma !! how r u</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>what’s wrong….</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>why would sm be wrong :/</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>bc u never text me that</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>ugh.. whatever</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>anyway i need ur advice</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>…</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>wow ….</em>
  <b>
    <em>
      
    </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>i said whtvr !!!! D: anyways!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>i sort of had a weird moment with kageyama and now things are awk what do i do…</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>:(</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>ur not gonna like this but u need to either talk to him or figure out what’s wrong</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>its ‘awkward’ now but what do you actually want it to be like? back to normal? or something different?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>kenma-senpai T___T since when do u give good advice</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>ouch :|</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>i didn’t mean it like that i swear !!!! thanks for the advice though</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>but u never answered what u actually wanted it to be like with kageyama</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>[ Read 7:41 pm]</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>shouyou …. this is the thanks i get</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>[ Read 7:42 pm]</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>hinata felt oddly encouraged by kenma’s words. he’d been desperately avoiding confrontation, but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. yeah…maybe it wouldn’t be so…bad…</p><p> </p><p>xxx</p><p> </p><p>who was he kidding, thought hinata, clutching the strap of his school bag, fingers freezing up as he waited outside the clubroom for kageyama to hurry up and get here already. this was feeling bad already. he’d accidentally gotten up a whole half hour early and went on with his morning routine. now here he was at school, waiting, because he didn’t have the key today and kageyama did and he was stupid and it was january and this was a bad idea. (why didn’t he even bring gloves? was he some kind of idiot?)</p><p> </p><p>fifteen minutes later when hinata thought he would be freezing to death any minute now, kageyama finally decided to show up, and he didn’t know if this situation was good or bad anymore. under normal circumstances, hinata would have been relieved, because it meant he could go warm up in the club room. under <em>these </em>circumstances, hinata’s heart was hammering a million times a second and all he could think about was <em>we’re supposed to talk today, right, </em>and if dumbass kenma hadn’t gotten to his head maybe he wouldn’t be feeling like this. but he was, he was feeling so pressurised by god knows what, because it wasn’t like he’d mentioned anything to kageyama; he couldn’t have known that hinata had something (?) to say. in fact, he’d been so stupid that all he’d thought about was the confrontation, not what he was actually supposed to <em>say. </em>typical hinata. this was so…useless. this whole situation was stupid. oh god. kageyama was almost right next to him. what the hell was he supposed to say?! what the hell was he supposed to</p><p> </p><p>“hey,” kageyama said, puffing out frosty air.</p><p> </p><p>“oh, um, hi,” hinata scrambled for words. neither of them spoke for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“you just gonna stand there?” kageyama asked after a few seconds.</p><p> </p><p>what? well what did he expect hinata to do exactly? “what do you mean <em>just stand</em>—“</p><p> </p><p>“let’s go inside, it’s so cold,” kageyama interrupted, brushing past him to unlock the club room.</p><p> </p><p><em>you have no idea, </em>he wanted to say. but he couldn’t get the words out for some reason. maybe he would wait till later.</p><p> </p><p>“oh, hinata,” kageyama said once they had entered the room, turning to face him.</p><p> </p><p>“what?” he asked suspiciously.</p><p> </p><p>kageyama averted his eyes and chucked something at hinata’s face. “what the—“ he caught it just before it smacked him in the forehead. an energy bar.</p><p> </p><p>“for after practice,” kageyama said, looking uncomfortable, “so you don’t fall asleep during classes,”</p><p> </p><p>“oh, um,” hinata looked at the bar, feeling touched. his favourite flavour. “thanks, kageyama!” he flashed him a smile before remembering the weird tension between them for the past few days, and then flushed out of embarrassment.</p><p> </p><p>kageyama huffed, immediately turning away to get changed. hinata stared at the back of his head curiously. what did this even mean? maybe kageyama felt bad about whatever reason he’d been mad at hinata, and he was trying to patch things up awkwardly without bringing it up. maybe hinata should just let things be. they’d probably work things out and go right back to normal. neither of them would need to look back on this and wander what was going through their heads.</p><p> </p><p>but then he remembered kenma’s text.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>what do you actually want it to be like? back to normal? or something different?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>that boy is definitely smarter than i give him credit for, hinata thought to himself. or maybe he was just painfully stupid. the latter was more likely, even he could tell. but what did he want it to be like with kageyama? he thought of the energy bar kageyama just gave him. it was weirdly thoughtful. hinata liked it. he wanted kageyama to be more weirdly thoughtful. <em>he </em>wanted to be able to be weirdly thoughtful, until it wasn’t even so weird anymore. was that weird?</p><p> </p><p>“hinata,” kageyama said again, “are you zoning out, dumbass,”</p><p> </p><p>“huh?” hinata shook his head, focusing his vision to find kageyama staring at him with that same glare like from before. he flinched. “sorry!”</p><p> </p><p>“no, it’s,” kageyama struggled for words, but his frown stayed, “it’s fine, god,”</p><p> </p><p>“okay…” hinata was getting progressively more confused, so his brain decided to zone out once more as he continued to get changed. his eyes accidentally focused on kageyama’s bare back, and he had to gulp audibly. wow, now that he was actually focusing on it, kageyama’s back was very…nice. to look at. it was so smooth and muscular, and the way his shoulder rolled was just so.</p><p> </p><p>wait, hot? was hinata thinking inappropriate things about <em>kageyama </em>of all people? it was normal to appreciate a body from an aesthetic viewpoint, right? it’s not like he’s never been complimented by someone, either. yeah.</p><p> </p><p>they finished changing after what felt like forever and a century, and by the time they started doing stretches and warming up, most of the team had already arrived. kageyama kept sending him these weird, shifty looks throughout practice, sort of like how he’d been glaring before, but different. more uncertain. and hinata?</p><p> </p><p>well. hinata could not seem to stop staring at kageyama at every chance he got, ever since he, um. realised that kageyama was kind of hot. <em>that’s a weird thought, </em>hinata acknowledged, but didn’t bother taking his eyes off the way kageyama was flexing his arm. he started to get more shifty looks, this time not just from kageyama, but from yamaguchi and sugawara as well. their faces seemed to say, <em>are you okay?</em></p><p> </p><p>hinata was insanely distracted from volleyball, again, more than he had been before. he couldn’t stop thinking about his earlier conversation with kenma, either.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>what do you actually want it to be like? back to normal? or something different?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>what had kenma been trying to tell him with that message? did hinata miss something? could he have missed something about his own emotions? apparently so, he thought to himself bitterly.</p><p> </p><p>even daichi noticed how off his game hinata had become, telling him to take a fifteen minute break with a creased brow and worry in his voice. hinata may not always have been able to execute great moves, but he’d always been 200% enthusiastic. now he was at a lukewarm 50%, with thoughts of kageyama and <em>what i want </em>flooding his brain.</p><p> </p><p>and hadn’t today been the day he wanted to have a talk with kageyama? hinata almost laughed. pathetic. at this rate he would be in no state to utter a coherent sentence to kageyama for like, a week.</p><p> </p><p>sitting on the bench, watching the rest of his team absently, he tried his best to collect his thoughts for later, so he could concentrate on practice.</p><p> </p><p>xxx</p><p> </p><p>after accidentally zoning out again during japanese literature, hinata realised it. and once he realised it, there was no ignoring it. yup, hinata definitely liked kageyama. in a way that friends simply do not feel about each other. and when he reflected on it, this definitely made a lot of sense. it explained a lot of things. it was a strange relief, to be able to finally get why he felt weird around kageyama sometimes. but at the same time, hinata’s brand new discovery seemed to complicate things quite a lot (he was immensely proud of how calm he’d managed to be. probably because it was a long time coming). first of all, he still had no idea if and why kageyama seemed to be mad at him. secondly, what the hell was he supposed to do now? would kageyama ever feel the same way? hinata struggled to imagine this concept. kageyama <em>liking him? </em>it was weird enough knowing that kageyama tolerated him. hinata’s chest ached. so this was why he’d been so weirdly conscious of all their interactions. maybe things wouldn’t be awkward between them if it wasn’t for hinata’s useless crush.</p><p> </p><p>wanting to text kenma, he waited for the teacher to leave the room and pulled out his phone.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>kenma?? r u there???</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>dont u have class rn?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>don’t u ?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>okay what’s up lol</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>anyways guess wtf just happened</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>???</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>i like kageyama</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>FINALLY.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>hello?? wym</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>literally its so obvious you’ve liked him for ages</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>ages??</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>wait im that obvious? do u think he knows</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>god.. i like him so much</em>
</p><p> </p><p>as soon as hinata hit send on that last message, he froze. so much? like? wait, what? the reality of his own feelings started to properly dawn on him, and suddenly he understood why he’d been so calm earlier. he hadn’t even emotionally processed the statement. but now? hinata’s heart was racing, and his mind was helpfully flashing with images of kageyama’s stupid face, and he remembered the energy bar, and suddenly he started to think of other times. when they were walking home together. when they shared a drink to save money. when kageyama had offered to help him receive after practice. this morning, kageyama’s back in the clubroom. fuck. he was going to start hyperventilating soon, if this didn’t stop. that would be so lame.</p><p> </p><p>what hinata really wanted right now, was. kageyama.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>bro like everyone sees u two staring at each other</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>i think he likes u too btw</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>u should tell him</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>sho??</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>r u okay rn</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>i think im having a panic attack</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>i literally only just realised i like him now so</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>i can’t handle this</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>THIS SUCKS KENMA</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>wish i could see him now…..</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>LOL</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>u got it bad</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>its almost cute</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>if u really can’t wait then talk to him ab it asap</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>he doesn’t even like me</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>at least talk to him ab what u were going to before</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>me &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>yeah…. i guess</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>good luck</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>kenma &gt;&gt;&gt; </em>
  </b>
  <em>gtg teacher is looking at me</em>
</p><p> </p><p>great, hinata thinks, putting his phone safely away right as his own teacher walks back in. what the hell is he even supposed to do now? when would be a good time to talk? what is he supposed to say? is there even anything to talk about?</p><p> </p><p>xxx</p><p> </p><p>turns out that hinata didn’t have to worry about when to bring this up, because somehow, kageyama is the one to initiate the conversation. on their way back home from practice, they walk past the park, and kageyama nods in its direction.</p><p> </p><p>“wanna stop there for a bit? we could try out our quick a few times, again,” kageyama says unconfidently.</p><p> </p><p>“sure,” hinata mumbles, because if it’s practice, then why not? but instead of going to the court, kageyama sits on one of the swings.</p><p> </p><p>“hey, i thought we were gonna practice,”</p><p> </p><p>“um,” kageyama flushes, but it’s hard to see in the dim light. “i actually sort of, used that as an excuse,”</p><p> </p><p>“huh? for what?” hinata frowns.<br/>
<br/>
“i thought maybe we needed to…talk?” kageyama looks unsure of what he’s even saying, and it’s very disconcerting to see him like this.</p><p> </p><p>“oh,” hinata says, “<em>oh, </em>right.” that was what he’d wanted to do, too. “um, so,”</p><p> </p><p>“so,” kageyama agrees. they both look at each other awkwardly. this was going great.</p><p> </p><p>“i’m sorry about yelling at you, that morning in the gym,” hinata starts, breaking the silence.</p><p> </p><p>“i’m sorry about glaring at you,” kageyama replies miserably.</p><p> </p><p>hinata stares at him with a curious frown. what was that even supposed to mean. “why were you even glaring at me, anyway?”</p><p> </p><p>“um,” kageyama coughs loudly, ears turning red.</p><p> </p><p>“what?” hinata frowns harder now. “did i do something? were you mad at me?” his heartbeat starts to speed up at the though of kageyama being angry at him.</p><p> </p><p>“no! nothing like that,” kageyama trails off, sounding too vague.</p><p> </p><p>“can’t you just tell me? things are becoming kinda weird between us, if you haven’t noticed, so at least tell me what happened,” hinata huffs, surprised at how direct he was just now.</p><p> </p><p>meanwhile, kageyama hangs his head in shame. “alright, alright. i wasn’t glaring at you…on purpose,” he starts, licking his lips.</p><p> </p><p>hinata’s eyes follow the movement. then, “wait, what? what do you mean? how do you glare at someone accidentally?”</p><p> </p><p>“i was just looking at you,” kageyama defends weakly.</p><p> </p><p>hinata shakes his head in disbelief. “what the hell are you talking about? that is not how you usually look! kageyama, i know something’s wrong, so just <em>tell me,</em>”</p><p> </p><p>“oh my god,” kageyama pinches the bridge of his nose. “i don’t even know how to say this,” he sounds almost angry. “i was, i was staring at you, okay! i’m sorry! but i just—i like you, so, i can’t help it,” his voice becomes small by the end of the outburst.</p><p> </p><p>hinata gawks at him. then he laughs, short and barked and slightly manic. “i can’t believe your staring looks like a death glare, that is so like you, kageyama-kun,” he keeps laughing, because really, what a relief. kageyama wasn’t mad at him. he hadn’t been glaring at him with criticism and disgust.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>what? </em>that’s what you take away from that?” kageyama hisses.</p><p> </p><p>hinata gives him a guilty little smile, and then remembers the second half of what kageyama said. “oh my god, kageyama,” he gasps, grabbing his face in both his hands, standing in front of him, while kageyama is still sitting on the swing.</p><p> </p><p>“of course i like you too,” he says incredulously, and then leans down to kiss kageyama on the lips.</p><p> </p><p>“whoah,” kageyama mumbles against his mouth, hands going to hinata’s hips. they stay like that somehow, kissing a little clumsily, hinata now standing right between his legs. kageyama pulls away gently when neither of them can really breathe anymore.</p><p> </p><p>“you really like me?” he asks, and for once his eyes aren’t narrowed or angry, but huge, as he stares up at hinata.</p><p> </p><p>“of course i do,” hinata says, sounding surprised that he would even need to ask that. “how the hell could i not?”</p><p> </p><p>kageyama’s cheeks flush. hinata sighs. “i’m not trying to give you an ego boost or a compliment, i really mean it. did you expect me to reject you just now? i can’t imagine myself not liking you…” he trails off, realising how insanely embarrassing he sounds. but it was just a part of who he was.</p><p> </p><p>“i can’t imagine myself not liking you either.” kageyama admits. “it’s just a part of me,”</p><p> </p><p>hinata grins. “that’s exactly what i meant,”</p><p> </p><p>kageyama allows himself to smile a little in return. “so no more awkwardness, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“right,” hinata rests his head against kageyama’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“so, like, you <em>are </em>my boyfriend now, right?”</p><p> </p><p>hinata looks into kageyama’s dead serious eyes. (he’s seeing so many different faces from him today, and it’s not a bad thing.)</p><p> </p><p>“yeah,” he says almost dreamily. “your…boyfriend,”</p><p> </p><p>“good.”</p><p> </p><p>“i like the sound of it, too,” hinata laughs, and a part of him cannot comprehend what is happening between them right now. it’s so intensely different, so open and without the superficial jabs at each other. it’s nice; really nice. he loves how vulnerable kageyama has become, just for him.</p><p> </p><p>after a moment, kageyama laces their fingers together (to hinata’s shock—who is this person?). “it’s getting colder,” he mumbles, “should we head back home now?”</p><p> </p><p>“okay,” hinata easily lets himself be tugged out of the park. they didn’t get any practice done, but he was more than okay with that.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hope u guys enjoyed! might fuck around and write a sequel if anyones interested in that lol</p><p>comments r super appreciated, ty for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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